Believe In Me ~ 20200419 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
04/19 Obey Jesus: Believe in Me; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20200419_believe-in-me.mp3
Disciples who Make Disciples who Obey Everything Jesus Taught
After his resurrection and before he ascended to the right hand of his Father, Jesus told his followers to make disciples who would make disciples who would make disciples to the end of the age. He told them to make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We as followers of Jesus are to continue to make disciples who make disciples. Part of making disciples is immersing them in the name of the triune God. Another essential part of making disciples is teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. We are to be disciples and make disciples who obey everything Jesus taught.
So what did Jesus teach? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? What are some of the central things Jesus taught that we need to observe and pass on to others? While following Jesus is a lifetime commitment, I hope over the next several weeks to highlight some of the central commands that Jesus gave us, and my prayer is that this would be one useful piece in a lifetime characterized by following Jesus.
Discipleship is Relationship not Rightness
One thing you will notice as you get to know Jesus is that following him is so much more than believing things about him. Following Jesus is a relationship. It involves getting to know him, listening to him, and responding to him by doing what he says.
In teaching all that Jesus commanded, we are not aiming for a pharisaic rightness, knowing the right answers with the ability to sniff out those who do not have it quite right and critique and criticize. Rather, what we are after is a humble and steady quiet walking with Jesus. Notice, Jesus did not say ‘teach them everything.’ He said ‘teach them to observe or obey or keep all that I have commanded you’ That means that we are to walk it, and lead others in walking with Jesus. It is more than just knowing stuff; it is doing it, walking it, living it.
His Commands Are Not Burdensome
When you hear words like ‘command’ and ‘obey,’ something in you might naturally raise walls of resistance, thinking ‘the last thing I need right now is more duty, more obligation, more requirements and responsibilities, more things to check off my list.’ Before you go there, listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 11.
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus is inviting you in to rest. He is inviting you to learn from him, but he says that is where you will find rest for your soul. He is not riding behind you adding to your load, cracking the whip to keep you pulling. He wants us to walk along side him, in the yoke with him, doing life together with him. He is willing to share your burden, and thus make it lighter not heavier.
This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a weight to pull and that you won’t face difficulties along the way. But it does mean that you will never be alone in them. Jesus yokes himself together with you.
Believe that I Am Lord and God
I want to start today with one of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples, a week after his resurrection. His disciples were discouraged, confused, afraid, hiding behind closed doors. They were hearing rumors, some of them had claimed to have seen Jesus alive. That first Sunday evening, he appeared to the whole group of disciples, minus Thomas.
John 20:25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Thomas refused to believe. In fact, he said ‘unless I have undeniable proof, I will never believe. John 20:26 says ‘eight days later’. Imagine, a full week of doubting, questioning, wondering. That following Sunday,
John 20:26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Jesus was offering the proof Thomas demanded. And he was commanding Thomas to believe. Believe what?
John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Confronted with irrefutable evidence, Thomas grapples with the implications of a man who had clearly been executed and buried, who was now alive in the flesh, standing right in front of him, still retaining the wounds of his execution. Peter had earlier confessed Jesus as ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Here Thomas worships Jesus as God. He calls him ‘my Lord.’ a connection with the Greek of the Old Testament YHWH, God’s name, the I AM. Thomas addresses Jesus with the language of prayer; ‘my Lord, my God’. He has come to believe in Jesus as the I AM of the Old Testament, the Sovereign One of Israel.
John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John gives the purpose of his writing. He is recording signs that offer evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; YHWH of the Old Testament; the Word who was with God and who was God, come in the flesh to save us. He writes so that we, his readers, would believe in Jesus. Jesus himself pronounces a blessing on us who believe in him now, not having seen him ourselves, but believing the testimony of the eye witnesses.
Believe and Be Born Again
In John 3, where Jesus tells Nicodemus ‘you must be born from above, born of the Spirit, born again’ (Jn.3:3-8), he reveals his identity to Nicodemus:
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God gave his only Son. Whoever believes in him has eternal life. You must be born again.
Jesus said in John 5 that John bore witness about me (33-35); the mighty works I have done bear witness about me (36); the Scriptures bear witness about me (39); and the Father himself bore witness about me (37); But he said
John 5:38 ...you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ...40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
Jesus commands us to believe in him, to come to him.
Come to Me and Drink
In John 7
John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive...
Jesus invites the thirsty to believe in him, to come to him and drink, to have their need satisfied. Those who come, the Spirit will produce new and overflowing life in their hearts.
Believe that I AM
In John 8, addressing the Pharisees who refused to believe in him, Jesus said:
John 8:24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Unless you believe that I AM. This is the same phrase we find in the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14, I AM Who I AM, the self-existent one. Jesus is demanding that they believe in him as the I AM, YHWH of the Scriptures. Jesus makes this explicit in verse 58, when he responds to their question:
John 8:57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
The Jews understood what he was saying, and they considered it blasphemy for a man to claim to be the I AM of the Scriptures.
But this is exactly what Jesus was commanding them to believe. You must believe that I AM or you will die in your sins.
Believe in God and Also in Me
In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples:
John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
In John 16, Jesus tells his followers that the coming Spirit would
John 16:8 ...will convict the world ... 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
The sin that the world will be convicted of is unbelief toward Jesus. We are commanded to believe in Jesus, and to disobey this command means condemnation and death.
The Impossible Work of Believing
In John 6, people were pursuing Jesus, not because they believed in him, but because he was feeding them.
John 6:26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Jesus tells them to labor for eternal food, not temporary food.
John 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
What must we do? What is the work God requires? To believe in Jesus. But these same people who had eaten the multiplied loaves, who were seeking Jesus because of the great signs he did, asked him for a sign.
John 6:30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
We scratch our heads, wondering at their unbelief. But Jesus was not surprised.
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
All that the Father gives him are the ones who come to Jesus. Then he said:
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
No one can come. Jesus said:
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
Something we will see as we look at the commands of Jesus is that obeying Jesus is not something that is hard to do; it is not difficult; it is impossible. We can’t obey Jesus.
When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, Son of the living God, Jesus responded:
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Peter didn’t come up with this on his own. It was revealed to him by God.
In Mark 10, a man came running up to Jesus asking him what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus showed his followers how difficult it is to trust him completely,
Mark 10:26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
It is not difficult to obey Jesus, to believe in him, to trust him; it is impossible. But not with God. It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all.
Just before this, in Mark 10, his disciples were rebuking those bringing children to him.
Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
We must come to Jesus as a child, expectant, eager to receive his gift; not trying to earn it or work for it.
Become like a child! Ask! Ask him to give you his Spirit. Ask him to give you the faith to let go of whatever else you are holding on to and trust him completely. ‘Everyone who asks receives!’ (Lk.11:10-13). So ask! Come as a child and ask. Ask him for the faith to believe in him.
Application; Believing in Jesus
The most important thing Jesus commands his followers is that we come to him, that we believe in him, that we take him at his word and believe that he is indeed who he claims to be, who he demonstrated himself to be. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (Jn.3:18)
Believing is the way of life for the follower of Jesus. We are to walk by faith. So what does it mean to walk day by day believing Jesus? Believing Jesus is the I AM? Believing that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Not just knowing it to be true, but truly walking in the light of that truth, knowing that he is with us, that he will never leave or forsake us?
If you truly believe in Jesus, that he is the I AM, my Lord and my God, God become flesh to save you, and that he is with you always, to the end of the age, it will change everything. It will change what is most important to you. It will change what you are afraid of. It will change your attitude and your outlook. It will change how you love and serve others. His yoke is easy and his burden is light and when we walk beside him, believing in him, we find rest for our souls.
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org